ABSTRACT
Madelung’s disease is characterised by multiple symmetric abnormal fat masses in the
head, neck and upper limbs. Surgical excision or liposuction is the only realistic
available option, although palliative in nature. The serial intralipotherapy with
phosphatidylcholine/deoxycholate has been proposed as a non-invasive treatment of
Madelung’s disease. The authors used serial intralipotherapy with phosphatidylcholine/deoxycholate
in two patients affected by Madelung’s disease. Three injections per lesion per patient
were performed with 1 month’s interval. Pre- and 6 months’ post-treatment dimensions
were assessed with ultrasound scan and patients were observed along a 5 years’ clinical
follow-up. A 42.5% average size reduction was reported in all treated lesions. About
33% recurrence rate was observed in the 5 years’ follow-up. We confirm the efficacy
of intralipotherapy in the non-invasive palliative treatment of Madelung’s disease,
as a valid option to reduce the volume and limit the growth of the pathological adipose
masses.
KEY WORDS
Deoxycholate - intralipotherapy - Madelung’s disease - phosphatidylcholine - ultrasounds
